Mass Effect - Nemesis
by moonrarr
Summary: Shepard is missing - presumed dead, but Tali will not accept it, together with her friend Garrus, and a few others, she will stop at nothing to uncover the truth. However there are those out there who will do everything to prevent her reaching her goal- and old enemy returns more deadlier than ever. Can Tali finally defeat the nemesis?


MASS EFFECT - NEMESIS

**PROLOGUE-**

Everything had changed, but nothing had changed. The Normandy was still an Alliance ship, still commanded by an Alliance Spectre, the crew was still the same crew- except for one, and he was the Commander, a man respected by his crew, a man who they would follow into battle, a man who they believed in, a man who the galaxy believed in to deliver them from the Reapers, and now- a man who was MIA, or even KIA, no one seemed to know. His name- Shepard.

Command of the newly fitted and newly repaired SSV Normandy had now fallen to the hands of humanities newest Spectre, Kaidan Alenko, the crew was pretty much the same as before, apart from a few newer members, mainly a couple of Asari, several Turians and a new Salarian Engineer, Joker remained as helmsman, alongside EDI, Dr Chakwas was still the ships Medical Officer, whilst down in the Engineering, Adams was still in charge with the newly engaged Gabby Daniels and Kenneth Donnelly. On the Command deck Samantha Traynor had now taken up XO position, and what with the Cerberus threat no longer as issue! Kelly Chambers had once again returned to service as ships Yeoman.

Urdnot Wrex had used his influence and gained huge support back on Tuchanka, Grunt stood loyally at his side, and between them, the planet had started to grow, not just in population, but in beauty, as the ruins had started to become the fantastic and beautiful structures they once were before, now standing as an echo and memory of the destruction that had torn the planet apart before.

Garrus Vakarian had returned to Palaven, and was overjoyed to find his father and sister safe, he moved with them to return to serve to the Citadel, where he was promoted head of the 'black Ops' department, an offset of C-sec, he shared an office with Commander Bailey, where (rumour has it) the double entree's between the pair had become almost legendary. Garrus' love life had improved somewhat also; he was dating a human woman- an ambitious young naval officer!

Liara T'soni was still Shadow broker, she now resided on the Citadel, working alongside Garrus and the C-Sec division, curiously crime aboard the Citadel was at an all time low, Bailey was mystified at the sudden drop, but Garrus knew better- he mentioned it in passing to Liara, who in turn, half heartedly lied by saying she "didn't know anything about it".

James Vega had proved himself a good selection for the N7 program, distinguishing himself in combat service whilst clearing out small pockets of active Cerberus units, he was now in charge of protecting a human settlement on 'Freedom's Hope', and was reportedly 'enjoying a bit of downtime'.

Javik had decided to find out what was left of his people, and had felt the best place to begin his search was back on the Asari Home world, he had hoped that maybe more pods had survived, and evidence that he had so far found would've suggested this to be true, if there were more 50,000yr old Protheans in the galaxy, then he was determined to find them. Samara shared his optimism and had devoted her services to helping the 'Vengeful Ancient' track down what had happened to his people.

**CHAPTER 1**

The room was her memory, she gazed around slowly, every part of the room throwing forth a vision of what had happened here in the months and year previously, she turned towards the fish tank and watched them all swimming without a care in the world, oblivious as to what had happened, instinctively she pressed the button which fed them, and watched silently as they quickly devoured the food that fell around them. She sighed and turned away to the table in which the last of her gear was waiting to be packed away, silently she placed each item carefully into her backpack. She picked up the last item, it was a photo, a picture of her and Shepard at the party on the Citadel, Joker had taken this picture and caught them both unaware, they were staring deep in each other's eyes, and he whispered to her "I love you". She fell to the floor crying uncontrollably, waves of despair washed over her as the crying became sobs of anguish and heartbreak, eventually she crawled to the bed and buried herself deep into the pillows, his scent was still there, she gripped it like it was really him, she didn't know what had happened to him, was he alive? Was he dead? All she knew was- she was alone, her father was dead, Shepard was missing, what did she have left? –hope, that was what she had, she tried hard to convince herself of that, that maybe Shepard would come back to her, maybe she should still have that 'beachfront property' on Rannoch, maybe all this was a bad dream, and she would wake up tomorrow and none of this would've happened, she'd be lying in Shepard's arms watching him breath whilst he slept. Then they could live together on the home world and watch the sunrise everyday...

The intercom brought her to her senses, she gathered herself before answering, "Tali here..." a familiar voice came back with the reply, "Tali! Its Kaidan, your shuttles arrived... Are you ok?" She could tell by Kaidan's question that he could detect the emotion in her voice, "I-I'm fine" she stammered, "actually...no I'm really not, I'm being a Bosh'tet, I'm getting all emotional...I'm sorry Kaidan... I just can't..." her voice trailed off into tears, she was aware of some response but what it was she had no idea, minutes later she had her answer as a very concerned Kaidan entered the cabin with Dr Chakwas. He sat next to her and placed his arm around her, she fell to his shoulder, whilst Chakwas saw to her needs, Kaidan was uncomfortable with the situation but did his best to deal with it "I know this must be hard for you-hell, it's hard for all of us, but you especially, none of us had that kind of relationship with him like you did!"

"it's perfectly understandable what you're feeling Tali" Said Chakwas " I have some stimulants here, take them 3 times daily for a week, I've run a few tests, and your body functions are normal, this is as Kaidan says, a highly emotional time for you!"

Tali nodded "will I ever find him?" she sniffed tearfully. Kaidan paused before answering, "With the love you have for Shepard, Tali- anything is possible, and they cloned him...twice right? What's to say they didn't clone him a third time?"

Kaidan's words hit Tali like a punch from a brute! Of course! Cerberus CLONED Shepard, if she could find other secret Cerberus labs then maybe she could get him back! Surely there must be some bases as yet unfound! A plan was forming in her head, she'd need a team to help her, names came rushing into her head. She smiled, this is what she was going to do, and she knew the people that were going to help her.

However, this wasn't going to help her right now. She regained her composure, gathered her things and headed for the cargo bay. Her shuttle was to make the drop off at docking bay 37B on the Citadel, for the most of it, that's what she went along with, but after leaving the Normandy shuttle, she headed over, and boarded a shuttle for C-Sec, ignoring the flight that she was going to take to head back to Rannoch. She was going to see Garrus. The pair of them had a relationship with Shepard that had gone on for years, if anyone could understand how she felt it would be him. The more she thought about the plan, the more confident she became. She envisaged that she would at some point have to contact Miranda- The genetically modified, Cerberus cheerleader Bosh'tet, she silently shook her head, remembering that at times, hers and Miranda's 'friendship' was strained at best. Then there was Jack- the biotic wrecking machine, she hated Cerberus so would probably be a good ally to aid Tali on her search for outposts, however, her love for Miranda was less than strained- it was more of a love/ hate relationship- Jack loved to hate Miranda, and the feeling was mutual! This to Tali was a nessercery problem, one that would get sorted out one way or another, then there was Zaeed or Kasumi- each with unique sets of skills, maybe she'd be able to talk them round. The thoughts continued to tumble around her mind as the shuttle finally docked at C-Sec.

The office was quiet, not unusual these days since the sudden 'departure' of the Reapers, crime levels were at the lowest they'd been for many years, in a way, this didn't bother Bailey, it meant less paperwork, and more 'patrolling the wards' as he liked to explain to anyone who would listen, truth be known, he was finding this new, 'relaxed' Citadel, much easier to cope with, and since he wasn't getting any younger, it was certainly suiting his new 'lifestyle'. The same could be said for his new 'partner', the charismatic Garrus Vakarian, together they had many stories about Reapers, Cerberus and- 'the good old C-Sec days'. Bailey was typing away at his keypad when the door opened, and in came a flustered looking Quarian, "Tali Zorah!" Bailey grinned "Well, here's a pleasant surprise to an otherwise monotonous day! How are you?" He stood up to greet her and offered his hand, of which Tali happily received "Good to see you Bailey! Actually, I'm here on business- is Garrus about?" He could hear and see by Tali's manner and tone that she was determined, whatever it was she was here for, it was serious, and historically, as with Shepard, or his close friends, usually meant trouble. He motioned to a door behind him "Yeah, he's out back there, you want me to go get him for you?" Tali shook her head "No, thanks...is it ok to go through?"

"Be my guest! He's not doing much, I'll err...hold his calls! Is everything ok?"

"I can't explain now Bailey, this is- terribly important..."

"Yep! Figured you were gonna say that! Matters of galactic emergencies, outside the jurisdiction of the Citadel and its airspace blah blah blah etc etc, go right in"

Tali didn't need telling twice, she marched right up to the door, pressed the opening lock, and went through, Garrus was sitting at a desk using a computer terminal, he looked suddenly alarmed at someone entering the office so abruptly, but soon relaxed when he saw it was Tali, he grinned broadly stood up and welcomed her with a huge hug. "Tali! You're a sight for sore eyes! How've you been? What brings you down to C-Sec? Still having trouble with Joker taking sneaky pictures of your hips? What's he doing with them now? Selling them on the extranet?" Tali ignored most of Garrus' well meant humour, and went straight to the point, "Garrus! I need your help". He paused, sensing something wasn't right "...ok, take a seat" The pair of them sat together either side of the desk, Tali leaned in close, and lowered her voice, even though the room was empty other than the pair of them, "Something's happened, I need you to come with me, I need a team, and a ship, I was thinking maybe some of the old crew that are no longer serving on the Normandy, and I need them fast...you weren't busy were you?" Tali's dizzying pace and determination caught Garrus momentarily off guard, he nodded in response "Sure! It wasn't as if I was busy! Well...what I mean is...this stuff can wait, I was in the middle of..."

"Calibrations?"

"Err...yes"

"On a computer terminal?"

"Yes! ...No!...whatever! What's this about Tali?"

"Shepard! I need to find him"

Her response to his question, completely threw Garrus off guard, but the look in Tali's eyes, her demeanour, she knew something quite clearly, but for his own peace of mind, he needed to fully understand what was going on. "Tali! No one ever found Shepard on the Citadel after the Reapers withdrew, he's listed as MIA, do you know where he is?"

"I have no idea, but I need to know Garrus! And you are best friend, that's why I came to you, we need to find out what happened on the Citadel, why the Reapers withdrew, and why they've suddenly 'changed', why are they helping to repair the Mass Relays, and even repairing the planets and civilizations that up until a year or so ago, they were trying to exterminate? - To me, that's the kind of thing Shepard would've done! What if they know something? We need to speak to a Reaper".

The idea of speaking to one of these huge metallic monstrosities, seemed daunting, but oddly enough, Garrus had been wondering the same thing, how at least now, the Reapers were behaving in a totally non-aggressive nature, and were helping the galaxy that they had destroyed, to rebuild. However, he remained confused to Tali's motives. "There's a Reaper, repairing the Citadel relay, the relay itself is operational, but all incoming or outgoing traffic is ignored, it's as if the Reaper doesn't even notice them, just carries on with the repairs, much like the keepers on the station! We can start there, I just hope this won't start anything new, and you know what you're doing"

"Garrus! I know we're forbidden to go near or disturb them, under Alliance orders but this has to be done. The Reapers are the only ones who know what happened on the Citadel, Shepard and Anderson, must've found the catalyst, but we still have no idea what it is! But, it worked, if we could get Shepard back, then the Alliance gets its well deserved hero, we get our friend and I..."

Garrus didn't even need to answer, he just nodded in understanding. "Ok, ok, you've convinced me, I'm in! Do you have any other leads?"

"Yes" said Tali excitedly, she reached into her backpack and proudly produced the memory shard that Javik had given Shepard "Shepard's memories are stored here! After Javik gave it to him, he stored his own thoughts and memories on here, if we can access them and maybe 'program' Shepard's brain, a bit like Cerberus did, then maybe..."

"Wait a minute there! – Cerberus?"

"Yes! – I was talking to Kaidan before I left the Normandy, it was something he said that made me remember, Cerberus cloned Shepard! Not once but twice! Think about it Garrus, there must be more clones out there! And what if Cerberus hadn't programmed them all, what if we got there first? This could be the answer we're looking for!"

Garrus paused once again, taking in all of the information Tali was telling him, it all made perfect sense. Ideas started flooding over him as well "Leave it with me! I've got a few ideas of who we'll need. I'm guessing you'll want to speak to Miranda as well?" Tali nodded, "I'd- rather not, but I can't think of anyone else that's closely attached to Cerberus that's on our side" With that, the two of them started on their extravagant plan.

**CHAPTER 2**

Taitus, a small planet tucked neatly away in the Talava system, in the Caleston Rift, in the heart of the Terminus systems. A den of villainous thugs, blood thirsty mercenary groups, and hidden away amongst all of it- home to a secret laboratory belonging to Cerberus. Cleverly defended, and almost invisible to the outside eye. Those who lived and worked here were virtually guaranteed safety by the watchful eye of the Cerberus military hierarchy. There was no Illusive Man here, although the ties to him were strong, no, this was something else, someone who was almost as dark and as sinister, and knew no boundaries in watching those who stood against Cerberus' tyrannical rule, suffer in ways ordinary humans couldn't understand. And yet here he was, oblivious to the plan that a love struck Quarian and her Turian best friend, were hatching together. Oblivious to the fact his secret lab was- not quite as safe as he thought. But with the illusive man gone, the links that tied him to the hierarchy were also gone, now things could be done his way.

Many years before Tali Zorah was born the Migrant fleet was travelling through the same system, near to Taitus, a small ship- the Via'ka , broke away from the fleet to partake in some mining for the Quarians, the vessel headed for the barren planet that is Taitus, and commenced their work, they were a day into the task when the pirates attacked, unmercifully attacking the ill prepared Quarian miners, the attack turned into a slaughter. Eventually when the pirates had finished their orgy of violence, they stole what the Quarians had mined, and as quickly as they had appeared- they vanished into space, leaving close to one hundred dead Quarians on the planet surface. But not all were butchered by these mindless thugs, roughly twenty or so had managed to hide, unarmed, and unable to help their fellow miners. Several days later a Quarian military ship picked them up, as they had not had any transmission from the Via'ka ( which had landed on the planet). Through their investigations into the incident, one name was overheard- the pirate leader, Dolan Franco!

**CHAPTER 3**

A day or so had passed, finally after nervously waiting around, Tali finally received notification from Garrus that he had some good news, she hurried back to his office, where she found him sitting at his desk, Bailey was out doing his rounds, so Garrus was able to speak freely "Good news! I've managed to acquire us a ship, wasn't that hard really. C-sec brought it in yesterday, it was impounded as the previous 'owners' were a bunch of lowlife pirates, interesting enough though- and you'll like this! The ship is of Quarian design!" Tali frowned-

"One of our ships? How did?... Never mind, it's probably not that important, but then again..."

"Shall I continue?"

"What?...oh, yes, please do...sorry!" Tali flustered, Garrus grinned to himself before continuing, much to his Quarian friends embarrassment, as usual in important circumstances she was easily distracted and found her mind wandering to other things, this was a normal occurrence for her, for whilst being in the Migrant Fleet, there were a hundred and one things that could go wrong on one of the ships, so she had to be ready for anything. "It seems to be some kind of scout ship, small, but effective for what we'll need it for" Garrus pulled up some schematics on his console for Tali to see "What I find surprising is the modifications its had- for example, the tech onboard is standard Quarian, but if you look at these drive core's they've been altered to match human displacement traces, but are in fact, Turian in design" he pointed to another part of the screen "... and here, you can see alterations to the FTL, which, I won't insult your intelligence means..."

"...it has a cloaking device!"

"Exactly"

"But how?"

"Wouldn't have a clue, probably stolen from somewhere, but I was thinking maybe we should let our pilot take a look over the vessel and maybe he can tell us what he thinks?"

With that a figure stepped out from the office behind Garrus, he smiled politely when he saw the young Quarian "Hello Tali Zorah". Tali looked up to see a familiar Drell staring back at her "Kolyat!" She exclaimed, a minor elation to her tone "It's good to see you... Are you our pilot?"

The Drell nodded "Yes! Garrus explained to me about your plan, I don't know if you knew, but when my father died, I promised him I would do something to make him proud, he asked me in turn to help Shepard in any way I can. I see this as that perfect opportunity to complete his wish." He sat quietly beside Garrus before continuing "If you have any doubts about my flying skills, then may I reassure you, my training has been second to none, I trained with Jokers teachers, my scores were almost as good as his. I had been learning to fly long before Shepard reunited me with father. With his death, I found a way to cope, to endure- flying was my answer".

Tali nodded her understanding, she remembered how Thane and Kolyat had become estranged over the years due to Thane's operations for varying agents, and how also, that Shepard had helped to heal their relationship, and here, standing before her, was Thane's legacy- his son, volunteering for a mission for which would have served his father proud " Welcome to the team Kolyat! I can't thank you enough for your help"

"The thanks should be mine Tali Zorah! You've given me reason that alone is enough".

Their conversation was brought to an abrupt halt, by a familiar figure bursting into Garrus' office, the trio whirled round to see the smiling face of a former comrade swaggering up to the desk, and taking a seat- uninvited. Garrus motioned to the chair "Well, don't mind me! Just take a seat why not! I've got plenty to go round!". His flippantly sarcastic comment was met with laughter by the new individual "Garrus! You ugly son-of-a-bitch, how are you? Taken any more missiles to the face recently?" Garrus remained unfazed "Probably about the same amount as lessons in etiquette that you've had Jack!"

"Bite me! ... On second thoughts- don't! Wouldn't wanna get your mandibles all stuck on my face!" Jack pouted teasingly. Garrus' silent stare spoke volumes. Jack, now pleased that she appeared to've rattled Garrus, turned her attention to Tali, "Sooo, Tali! I got a message from ol'chuckles here" she said motioning to Garrus " That you were putting together a crew, for a 'top secret' mission! I gotta admit, he didn't give much away, but, I remember our days back on the Normandy, they were good times! We kicked the galaxy in the daddy bags! And curiosity tells me, hanging with you, would give me a chance to do it again! So tell me- what's going on?"

If Tali were openly honest, she liked Jack, firstly for her sense of humour, of which it would appear Garrus was going to bear the brunt of, secondly for her dedication for training the young biotics at Grissom Academy, and thirdly for the rage that she could unleash with her own biotic abilities, turning her into a lethal killing machine. Jack would be a valuable asset to her team. "I'm glad he sent you the message then Jack! I have a theory...about Shepard, he's listed as MIA, possibly even KIA, no one knows for sure... I don't believe he's dead, or if he is, then I believe there's more of him out there, and I'm going to find out". Jack looked confused "Whoa! What do you mean? 'More of him out there?"

"Do you remember the clone we fought here on the Citadel?"

"Ha! Hell yeah" laughed Jack "We kicked his sorry ass! "

"The clone was Cerberus 'spare parts' or so he said! What if there were more? Somewhere we haven't been able to trace!"

"You're thinking Cerberus has a facility that the Alliance hasn't been able to find yet?"

"Exactly!"

"If Cerberus are involved, then yeah, you've got my attention! I'm in, especially if it gives me another chance to get back at them for what they did to me- and the Academy kids too! So, if we find another 'Shepard', what then?"

"Cerberus 'programmed Shepard, if they can do it so can we! I have the memory Shard that Javik gave him, if I can upload Shepard's memories from the shard into a dormant clone, then the galaxy gets its hero back...at least until I find the real one"

"...and you get your man back! Yeah I get where you're coming from Tali. Sounds good, I'm in for definite, where do we start?"

"We need to find out if there are any Cerberus bases 'off the chart' so to speak, we need to find out from any former Cerberus operatives who defected to the Alliance!"

"You have anyone in mind?"

"Yes- Miranda!"

"Oh that's just great!" exclaimed Jack "the super-genetically modified cheerleader freak show! I should've bitch-slapped her when I had the chance!"

"I know what you mean! But she's our best chance, we have to speak to her..."

"Fine!" Jack growled "...but if she isn't compliant- let me try! I'll persuade her one way or another"

"Just- be nice"

"Yeah, right!" scoffed Jack. Garrus had been data streaming whilst Tali was filling Jack in on her plan, he logged off and turned to his two friends " If I remember correctly, Jacob told Shepard that he wasn't a clone, Miranda- if I still remember correctly, confirmed this, didn't she say something about 'the Illusive man wanted Shepard! As he was, his memories, his personality. He wanted Shepard brought back as the original, not some half witted attempt of Shepard, in which case, I'm not seeing how the memory shard is going to help us". Tali turned to the Turian, "to be fair, you're right- to a certain degree, Cerberus brought Shepard back after they recovered him from the wreckage of the first Normandy. A lot has happened since then, I fell in love, and I want him back, selfish it may seem, Shepard took on and defeated the collectors in the Omega 4 relay, then the Reapers on Earth! These memories on the Shard are from that moment in time after he was recovered, up until the time he was lost again! The Shard is my way of filling in the blanks, so he remembers everything, especially what happened on Rannoch!" Jack grinned "So the 'official' story is- you wanna bring the galaxy's hero back, but 'unofficially' you want your boyfriend back!"

"Is that unreasonable?" Tali questioned. "I can't help falling for someone who I admire so much, someone who understands me wants me, someone who helps me and countless other people, regardless of race. Yes, he's a hero to many of the galaxy's races, but to me he is so much more, and I can't tell you how much pain it causes not to have him here with me " Tears began to well in her eyes "With Shepard gone, I am lost! I have no meaning, no direction, I can't even function as an admiral for my own people! How stupid is that! All because I can't cope with the loss of losing the one person who I love, and if that makes me a shallow person, then I'm sorry". There was a stunned silence as Tali cried, the others not knowing what to say, and trying hard to understand how she felt, could do nothing but try to console her.

**CHAPTER 4**

The next day was spent preparing the ship, Garrus had argued that the ship needed a name, everyone agreed, but deciding on a name became an even bigger argument, eventually, Tali decided to call it the 'Valiant', to which Garrus being Garrus asked if Tali would then change her name- " So, won't you become Tali Zorah Vas...Valiant?" the Turian asked with a puzzled look on his face. Tali started to laugh "No, not exactly, I'd have to be Captain for that, so, I'm still Vas Normandy". Garrus paused before replying "...But this is your squad, your mission, therefore- your ship" Tali hadn't considered this, Garrus was right, all these crew members as well as Garrus, Jack and Kolyat were here for her, and what she was doing, her realization was visually evident, "Are you asking me to be Captain?" she asked. Garrus didn't even need to reply, he was now flanked by both Jack and Kolyat, who had heard, and were now drawn to the conversation. "I've never been in command before" said Tali quietly. Jack stepped forward, "The team won't lead itself Tali, it's time to step up! I know you can do this, and so do these guys behind me- do this!...For Shepard."

For Shepard- that's what this was all about. The nights she had cried herself to sleep mourning him, days spent wondering if she'd ever see him again, Jack was right, now was the time to step up, she _could_ do this "Ok! I'm in command, this ship maybe 'The Valiant' but I am still Tali Zorah Vas Normandy! Kolyat! Punch in a course to that Mass Relay, we've got a Reaper to talk to!"

It was several hours before they arrived at the relay. The huge black metallic 'bug' was busy fusing and repairing damage to the Relay system itself, although operational, the traffic that came through the Relay was ignored by the Reaper. The size of these huge dreaded machines was always daunting to Tali, she stared at the huge monstrous thing before her, she, like many other people of different races could never understand why they broke off their attacks on their home worlds and suddenly started to repair the damage they had caused, it was as if they had been completely reprogrammed, and Tali was fully aware of this, but still didn't trust them. "We're in communication distance now Tali. Do you wish me to hail the Reaper?" Kolyat's question brought her back to reality, Tali shook her head "But what do I say?- it's a...Reaper!" Garrus stood by her side," You could start with 'Good morning, how are you?"

"Like shit we could" added Jack, " That hunk of junk is responsible for killing thousands of people, possibly millions. How bout we start with 'Hey asshole- tell us what we want to know or we blast your metallic shit all over the galaxy!"

"Channel is open Tali" said Kolyat.

Tali stepped up to the com-deck, "This is Tali Zorah Vas Normandy of the 'Valiant'. Can you hear me?"

A few seconds passed before the Reaper reacted, it stopped its repairs and silently backed away from the Mass Relay and turned to face the Valiant and her crew, they were now in the focus of the huge machine, memories of the war flooded into each of the crew's minds filling them with fear and awe, then a booming deep voice sounded, it appeared to come from all around them. "We hear you Quarian, Tali Zorah, we are obliged to answer your questions, you may speak". Garrus shook his head "Why do they speak in the third person?"

"You are Turian, Garrus Vakarian, you are known to us". Garrus, much like the others looked shocked, the Reaper continued " Human, Jack! Also known as 'Project Zero', you are known to us, Drell, Kolyat, son of Thane, you are known to us". The crew members looked at each other in disbelief, Tali shook her head, speaking what each of the others had been thinking "How do you know all of this? Who we are?"

"You seek one called 'Shepard'. That name is known to us, it has meaning", the shocks kept coming, "You are Tali Zorah Vas Normandy, you are known to us, your name has meaning".

The Reapers words had Tali's mind racing, the Reaper _knew_ who Shepard was, it knew all of her crew mates, and yet none of them had ever come into contact with this one before. The only Reaper's they'd had contact with ended up being destroyed- Harbinger, Rannoch,Tuchunka, as well as many more in the battle for Earth. Questions darted into her mind at a dizzying pace, finally she managed to compose herself to continue. "Tell me what you know of John Shepard". There was the pause again before the Reaper replied "Shepard is, and Shepard was, infinite, Shepard exists because of us, the harvests will no longer continue. We will watch the galaxy from afar, and observe. Problems between your races do not concern us, the galaxy concerns us. His will is our will. The galaxy will bend to our will, should circumstance provide it. We exist because Shepard exists"

"He exists?!" Tali flustered. "Where is he? What happened to him?"

"Shepard became part of our conscious in the crucible, he added himself to us. He exists in human form no longer. He is infinite, no beginning, no end, he simply _is_!"

"He was the catalyst?"

"Yes". There was a stunned silence throughout the ship. The Reaper turned its attention away from them once more and continued its repairs on the relay. Jack placed her hand thoughtfully across her brow, " So, let me get this straight. That thing out there, is _Shepard_?

"Yes" replied Garrus slowly. "Each and every one of those things is, or _has_ part of Shepard in it"

"But what if its lying! We don't know for sure, we..."

"The Reaper's don't lie Jack. They have no reason to. What they say is their interpretation of truth in its simplest form. If it says that's what happened, then that's what happened! It's like the Geth, a single conscious among millions, only in the Reaper's case, its Shepard who reprogrammed them!

Kolyat stepped forward and placed his hand on Tali's shoulder " My people have a word for this, that I think in these circumstances could be relevant, _Shemikiya_, it means 'never forgotten' in the human tongue, we use it when a member of our people has sacrificed themselves with great honour, for the greater good of our people! Take some comfort Tali. Shepard stands with the gods now" Tali nodded sadly, unable to speak as the words of the Reaper tumbled around her head, trying to make sense of what had happened.

"No!" Said Garrus standing up, "this changes nothing. This galaxy still needs someone like Shepard, someone who cares about everyone in it, someone who would lay their life on the line for any race, not just their own. I say we still find this Cerberus clone, and bring back a hero!"

"You're right" Kolyat nodded thoughtfully. "The galaxy regains its hero. It would bring some sense of stability"

Tali turned to her friends, she had been listening and taking in their words, what they were saying made sense, this whole scenario wasn't just for her finding her lost love, they were _right_! This was about bringing back some kind of order from the chaos, Shepard had been lost, and now they knew the answer, which itself lay in the Reapers. The galaxy and those in it, didn't need to know. All that was nessercery for them to understand was that Shepard was alive. "We'll continue with our plan, we find Miranda, and get this info from her, then we find Shepard. We tell _no one_ what the Reaper said, not until we find him."

"Sounds good!" exclaimed Jack " And _yes_, I promise I'll be on my best behaviour around Miss Lawson, but if she gives us any shit, then _please_ let me deal with her!"

**Chapter 5**

The small Quarian ship emerged from the mass relay and headed for the asteroid-come-space station Omega. Its jellyfish shaped form, pointing out towards the stars as if to draw them to it. However, all Omega seemed to draw to its reaches these days were pirates, slavers ,mercenaries and fortune hunters. One thing hadn't changed- the chain of command, the station was still commanded by the ruthless Asari, Aria T'lok,. Her word was law, whatever went on board Omega, she knew about, whether or not she would allow it depended on her, and what she could get out of it, Aria _was_ Omega, and everyone knew it.

After docking, Tali and her band of friends found themselves in the market quarter, here, Asari, Turian, Human, Volus, Elcor and Quarian alike, bustled around trading goods of varying quality, and various cargos, from space craft to weapons, and on the darker side illegal items such as the highly addictive biotic stimulant Red sand. Garrus tried to look very nonchalant and business like, but was failing miserably, Tali looked over at her friend musing over his caper. Garrus frowned. "What? Am I doing something wrong?".Tali chuckled, "Garrus, you look so uncomfortable, I'm sure they've all forgotten about Archangel by now". The Turian deepened his frown and shook his head " I very much doubt that. If you believe it then you don't know merc groups very well, trust me, they have very long memories".

"Ha" laughed Jack, slapping him on the shoulder " So, you're telling me, you never told anyone that you were Archangel?" she said loudly.

"Shut up Jack!" hissed Garrus, "what are you trying to do? Get me lynched? If anyone finds out, then we're going to have to deal with a hell of a lot of unwanted attention! Something that if it should have crossed your mind, we could certainly do without!"

"Oh I'm sure about that" Jack replied "If they want any trouble! Then I say- bring it!" Tali became aware of Jack's bold speech was alerting some of the local inhabitants, they were giving her team nervous glances, and striving to keep out of their way, even the merchants were keeping their heads down, doing their best to avoid Jack's line of vision. Suddenly a single figure stepped forward and pointed directly at Garrus "I know you!" he stated jabbing his finger excitedly. "You're Garrus first make out who this excited human was, as he stepped forward however, she recognised him, her heart sank. "Conrad Verner!" she said half heartedly, Conrad turned to her and smiled broadly " You even remember my name? That's awesome! You guys are legends! Say, where is Shepard? Word on the street is he's missing! Is it true? I mean- if he is, then I could help you find him! It'd be an honour." Tali raised her hand halting the over excited Conrad " That's very nice of you to offer Conrad, but at the moment we're..." Disaster, Tali's mind went blank, her thoughts raced to find some kind of excuse to put him down gently, "...on an important mission. A top secret mission" added Garrus. Relieved, Tali composed herself " Yes...that's right! Thank you Garrus, a top _**secret**_ mission, we can't tell you anymore than that". There was an uneasy silence before Conrad answered saw another one of your team members a day or so ago, ah, what was her name?..." he snapped his fingers as if it would make him remember . "She had an accent! Yes! An Australian accent". The team shot each other knowing glances. "Was her name by any chance Miranda?" Jack asked knowingly.

"_**Yes**_! That's her" Conrad bounced excitedly "She was with a bunch of Krogan, and a couple of Vorcha, down in the wards!"

Garrus turned aside to Tali "That sounds like Blood Pack mercs to me" he said quietly, Tali slowly nodded, "Agreed! At least we know where to start looking, now all we have to do is get rid of Conrad". No sooner had the words left her mouth, when Conrad fell unconscious to the floor, Kolyat stepped out from behind him. "Never let you enemy get behind you! That's what my father told me!" With a few grins and smirks between them, the team left Conrad behind, and proceeded to venture further into Omega's depths.


End file.
